Wednesday, May 15, 2013

A few years ago, I was a co-researcher on a study that
investigated the factors that influence informal
workplace learning. The literature on the subject frequently references
learning from mistakes as a typical form of informal learning.

So how can we
leverage this natural way of learning in eLearning lessons?

Nudge learners to
assess their responses. I recently saw this in an eLearning lesson a
colleague created. The lesson prompted learners to answer a scenario-based
question. After submitting the answer, an initial round of feedback
suggested a couple of factors learners should have considered when responding
and asked them to assess whether their responses were on the right track. Learners
then had an opportunity to modify their responses or continue. This seemed like
a clever way to prompt learners to reflect
on their learning and potentially recognize mistakes themselves.

Show the consequences
of decisions. Suppose an eLearning lesson teaches sales skills, and a
scenario-based question challenges learners to present a product’s benefits to
a customer. Instead of simply telling learners whether they presented the
benefits correctly or incorrectly, follow their response with how the customer
replies (perhaps with a customer who expresses interest, or a reluctant no, or
a stern no, for example). Then, you might ask learners to assess why the
customer reacted the way he did, and/or challenge learners to use a better
response to attempt to recover the situation (which is similar to what someone
might think through in this type of situation in real life).

Activate incorrect
paths in system simulations. I’ve encountered two main types of system
simulations. One type is immersive, allowing learners to click around and
explore in a simulated re-creation of a software application (or a portion of
it). Another type consists of a linear path through a specific series of steps.

When creating the latter, consider easing up on the linear
aspect of it. Instead, you might activate a limited number of incorrect paths
that branch from the intended path. To control the cost and time required to
create a branching
simulation, you can opt to only allow learners to stray a few steps away from
the correct path. If a learner doesn’t self-correct before reaching the end of
what you opt to allow, you might display feedback that helps learners recognize
what they’ve done incorrectly and/or identify the misunderstanding that may
have led them astray.

With an approach like this, learners benefit from learning
from their mistakes through branching, and you can still control
the cost and time required to build
the simulation by limiting the extent of the branching allowed.

Do you give learners
opportunities to make mistakes?

If so, how did you identify what types of mistakes to allow?
And how did you design those opportunities into the training? Please share!